Armor-chain.



P. GAUTHIER.

ARMOR CHAIN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY15, 1913.

1,080,054. @atented De0.2, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

Waw V %wzzfm ATTORNEY.

pose is to provide an armor which will yield with my armor attachedviewed from the "titan STATES irritant eta-riots.

PHIBIA GAUTHIER, 0F LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

ARMOR-CHAIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

To (171 'alzmiiif m 1 concern Be it known that I, Pnnna. GAU'lllIl-lll,a eitizen of the United States, residing at. Lowell, in the eonnty. ofllliddlesex and: State of Massachusetts; have invented eertain new anduseful Imprtwements in .-\rmo1 '-(hains, of which the tollowing is aspecification. r

My invention relates to armor for tires, and especially for meulmiti ctires. lts purvertically as the \ehiele to which the tire is attachedmores along and which will protectthe tire tread from punctures. stone,etc. lts'purpose also is to art as a substitute for the well known formsof anti-slipping chains. It is so made that it 1)lt:-tllts to the road.metal shoes with ealks in the. w nter tin and an elastic surt'aee suchas rubber in the summer time. p

In the drawings Figure l is an eleration partly in section of a portionof tire side. Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. l'on line X-Y. Fig. 3- is aplan new of the outside or face ota section of my armor. Fig. l is anenlarged side elevation partly in seetion of my pret'erred form ofjoint. Fig. 5 is a plan \l(\\ 'lrom the tare or outside of a metal shoewith ralks for use in slippery weather. 'l ig. (i is a \'ie\\ .ot' Fig.5 from the lel't. Fig. T is a plan new from the lace or outside ot asection of my armor with a ditl'erent form of hinge. Fig. 8 is aseetional elevation of Fig. T on line "--7. Fig. 1 is an elevation tron]the side of a seetion ot tire with my armor attached showing the formot'- hinge in Figs. T and h. A represents a tire of the ordinarypneumatir type. U B, It represent sections of, my, armor which l willnow proceed to describe.

Each section I) is preferably made of sheet metal bent in the middle at10 into a substantially laterally tlat. face with a ridge ll bent ateaeh side so as to form a ehannel in which is seated the wearingsin-tare of my armor. This wearing surface may be a soft pad (lprel'erably of rubber or similar resilient: material. ,l rom 11 thesides are bent bae; at 12 at right angles to face 10 and are bent over.and back at'13 to conform to the shape ol the outer portion or tread otthe tire A. ,The edges of B meet each other at a point where the alsobear against the back of face portion 10 as shown in Fig.

At one end the face portion 10 is bent into an outward eurre 20 as shownin detail in Figs. 1 and l and at the other end it is bent into acorrespomling inward curve '21 adapted to engage curve 20 in such amanner that the space will be lettbetween the ends thereof. This formsmy preferred form of hinge or coupling joint. It is cheaply made and hasa large bearing surface with little opportunity for dirt or dust to getin to interfere with the operation. The play is limited in one directionby the end of 20 striking; the curve in the end 21, while. in the otherdirection as the parts can 'be separated. To lock the parts in position.I adopt the following method: The pad C has four projections 30, Ill, 32and 33 with channels between them in the form of a cross. In thesecrossed channels. l place the attaching member D which can be attachedto or detached from section it by means ot screws 34- whieh pass throughsuitable holes in member 1) into threaded holes in face plate 10. Arm 40of attaching member l) is prolonged so that it will ex tend into a slot.41 in curved end 21. This slot ll is so cut as to allow ot a normalspace between its bottom and. the end of 40 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4:.There is also some pla at the other end so that the joint can morehutjso that when the end of il strikes the end of ll or the inner sidestrikes the inner end of 41. the hinge aetion will be stopped. 'ilh thistype of hinge or joint, there is practically no ehanee for stones anddirt to get jammed between the working parts. for the reason that theend of +10 pushes any sueh out of slot ll, keeping it clear at alltimes. The end of 40 and the opposite end of the cross of attaehinmember l) are preferably rounded as shown in Fig. l to prevent pebbles,et(.'., frombeing pinched between them.

To assemble the parts, a curved end 20 is sli-tl sidewise into a curvedend 21 or they may be hooked together endwise. In either ease this isdone before the pad C or attaching member I) are in place on bothsections.

They maybe in place on one section but not on both. Pad 0 is now putin-plaee and held by attaching member D which is e-rewed in placethereon. This brings the elytended arm 40 into slot 41 whereby anylateral displacement is prevented and the hinge action is limited by thesize of the space 22 and the depth of slot 41. The

- connected by engaging L place and complete.

structionis of a length equal to the circumference of the tire less onesection. All the sections except the last can be put together ,with thearmor spread out on the lioor and straight until it is necessary toputit on the tire- To putton the tire, it will be desirable to deflatethe tire and draw the armor chain together by means of'a screw clamp soas to leave a distance between the ends just equal to the length of asection. 'lVith my preferred form of joint both ends of the last sectionare slipped sidewise into the corresponding ends of the end sections,the pads and attaching members of which have been left off to permit it.The pads and attaching members of these last three sections are now putin place and the armor chain is in In the form of hinge shown in. Figs.7, '8 and 9 the projections 60 engage projections 61 through all ofwhich passes a pin hole of uniform size for the reception of pin 62. Tohold this pin in place, the projection 60 at each end is threaded toreceive a screw 63 or G4 which holds pin 62 in place. Sections with suchprojections can be readily JjOCiJlOHS 60 with projections 61 and thenpushing the pin 62 into place and then locking it between screws 63 and(54.

Instead of using the form of hinged joint shown in F igs. 1 and 4, I mayuse all the way around joints like those shown in Figs.

7, 8 and 9.

The sides 12 at each end as shown at 17 in Fig. 1 are cut away in aradial direction from the center of rotation of each hinge joint. Thispermits a play between the protecting sides 12 without binding. 1

I prefer to make the width of my sections B a little greater thanthe'tire so that when running close to a curbstone for instance anyscraping will be taken up.by the metal at 12 rather than by the tire.

In winter time, it may be desirable to replace the pad 0 and theattaching member D by a shoe I made oi. metal with projecting calks andwith four holes for screws 71 by which it is attached directly to plate10 of a section B. For the first described type of hinge, it has a tangor tail 72 which perforn'is the function of long member 40. The calks'70serve to prevent slipping in the winter time. When the second form ofbinge is used, the tang 72 is not necessary.

\Vith my'armor chain, the sections B present a larger llaz surface thanthe tire itself and as this fiat surf. cc is provided with projections30 preferably of elastic material such as rubber they give a better holdon the road and at the same time, they do not sink deeply in san'd, Ittherefore runs more easily in sand and-through mud" than the ordinarytire and at the same time protects the tire from unctures.

It 'will be 0 served that hach section B is substantially fiat andcovers a considerable area laterally of the tire and as each is stilland rigid it acts somewhat like a snow shoe as 1t prevents the wheelfrom sinking so deeply into sand or mud as it would witha narrowertread. As each section 15 made of sheet metal and is therefore light thechains do not add greatly to the weight of the vehicle and as eachsection may have a resilient pad G the movement of the vehicle is madequite easy. As each section and each pad is readily detachable repairscan rapidly be made. Moreover as the hinge joint whether of the typeshown in Fig. 4 or that shown in Fig. 8 extends the entire width of thechain tread and as the sides 12 extend up along side the tire it'isimpossible for the armor chain to slip oil or to be forced off by a.side thrust.

\Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to cover by Letters Patent, is:

1. An armor chain for tires comprising aplurality of sections hingedtogether .each of which is formed of sheet metal so shaped as to have achanneled'face together witlr taching members for the bearing memberseach attached to a section one portion of each of which extends into aslot in an adjoining section as described.

3. In an armor chain for tires, a plurality of sectionshingcd togethereach section being formed of sheet metal so shaped as to have achanneled-face together with sides which project on each side of thetireiand extend up thereon and are bent back to lit the tread of thetire the ends of the sides being cut away slantingly said sheet metalbeing bent at one end into an outward curve and at the other end into acorresponding inward curve the outward curve having a 1011- gitudinalslot, together with a detachable bea ring member which .tits intothcchanneled face, and-an attachinganember in the form of a cross one endof which extends into a slot in H1 adjoining sheet metal section, and

to have channfled face together with sides whichproject oneaeh sideofithe'tire and extend up thereon and are bent back to fit the tread ofthe tire the ends of the sides being cut away slantingly said sheetmetal being bent at one end into an outward curve and at theother endinto a corresponding inward curve the outward curve having alongitudinal slot, together with a detachable bearing member, anattaching member in the form of a cross one end of which extends into aslot in an adjoining section this end and the opposite end being roundedon the outer edge, and screws which pass through the attaching memberand bearing member into the section as described.

5. In an armor chain for tires, a plurality of sections hinged togethereach section being formed of sheet metal so shaped as to have achanneled face together with sides which project on each side of thetire and extend up thereon and are bent back to fit the tread of'thetire the ends of the sides being cut away slantingly said sheet metalbeing bent at one end into an outwardcurve and at the other end into acorresponding inward curve the outward curve having alongitudinal slot,together with a detachable member which has an extension which entersone of said slots in an adjoining sec tion as described.

6. An armor chain for tires comprising a plurality of sections each ofwhich is formed of sheet metal so shaped as to have a channeled facetogether with sides which extend up on the tire and bent back to fit thetread of the tire together with detachable fiat faced bearing members,said sections being hinged together by a joint which extends across eachsection as described.

In testimony whereof I, hereto afiix my signaturein presence f twowitnesses.

PHI 31A GAUTHIER. W'itnesses: i

. GARDNER iii-PEARSON,

FISHER H. PEARSON.

